The Armed Forces of Rwanda (FAR) was the army of the ethnic
Hutu-dominated Rwandan regime that carried out the genocide of 500,000 or
more Tutsis and regime opponents in 1994. The Interahamwe was the civilian
militia force that carried out much of the killing. The groups merged and
recruited additional fighters after they were forced from Rwanda into the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC; then Zaire) in 1994. They became
known as the Army for the Liberation of Rwanda (ALIR), which is the armed
branch of the PALIR or Party for the Liberation of Rwanda. In 2001,
ALIR—while not formally disbanded—was supplanted by the Democratic
Front for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). Though directly descended from
those who organized and carried out the genocide, identified FDLR leaders
are not thought to have played a role in the killing. They have worked to build
bridges to other opponents of the Kigali regime, including ethnic Tutsis.

Activities

ALIR sought to topple Rwanda’s Tutsi-dominated government, reinstitute Hutu
domination, and, possibly, complete the genocide. In 1996, a
message—allegedly from the ALIR—threatened to kill the US ambassador to
Rwanda and other US citizens. In 1999, ALIR guerrillas critical of alleged
US-UK support for the Rwandan regime kidnapped and killed eight foreign
tourists, including two US citizens, in a game park on the Democratic
Republic of Congo-Uganda border. In the 1998-2002 Congolese war, the
ALIR/FDLR was allied with Kinshasa against the Rwandan invaders. FDLR’s
political wing has mainly sought to topple the Kigali regime via alliance with
Tutsi regime opponents. They established the ADRN Igihango alliance in
2002, but it has not resonated politically in Rwanda.

Strength

Exact strength is unknown, but several thousand FDLR guerrillas operate in
eastern DRC close to the Rwandan border. In 2003, the United Nations, with
Rwandan assistance, repatriated close to 1,500 FDLR combatants from the
DRC. The senior FDLR military commander returned to Rwanda in
November 2003 and has been working with Kigali to encourage the return of
his comrades.

Location/Area of Operation

Mostly eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

External Support

The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo provided training,
arms, and supplies to ALIR forces to combat Rwandan armed forces that
invaded the DRC in 1998 but halted that support in 2002.